"If you are what you should be, you will set the world ablaze."
-St. Teresa of Avila
LifeTeen is an "international Catholic movement" that leads teens closer to Christ. St. Simon is so happy to be incorporating Life Teen into our high school youth ministry program, because it is our mission to help the youth of our parish grow in their faith.
Our LifeTeen group meets twice a month. Once on a Sunday evening from 6-8pm for an educational session and once on a Saturday evening where we attend 5:30pm Mass and go out for a social event afterwards.
The LifeTeen program at St. Simon does not cost an initial fee. The only time teens will need to pay is when we go on our social outings. Every social outing is 100% decided on by our teens. We take their suggestions, schedule the events and the teens pay for themselves on the night of the social.
We would love for you to join us! Please check out our calendar of events and come and see us!
If you are a young adult and are interested in working with our teens please fill out the Adult Team Application and return it to Mike Braun, Pastoral Associate for Family Life. Below are some quotes from the members of our LifeTeen youth group, aka "The Squad" about what LifeTeen means to them. Please take the time to read through them and see how the youth group at St. Simon is inspiring the teens of our parish.
What does LifeTeen mean to you?
~ "I love the squad because its a great way to get to know Jesus through your peers and to get their perspectives on our faith while having a great time"
-meredith rhodes
~ "The Squad to me has been a life saver. Its a good time that I can focus on my faith away from distraction, be with friends, have a good time while learning and sharing our faith experiences. I never would have met my fellow "squad" friends if it weren't for this group. We all get along so well and I love our socials, they are always so much fun! The squad is like an escape to me, I can get away from family and school for a little while and concentrate on something very important to me, my faith and I couldn't be more blessed to have made the friends I have connected with. I have grown closer to God and the person I want to be. I am never ashamed of my faith like some of my school friends are, and the squad has helped me with that. I am more than thankful for everything God has given me. Without Francesca, I wouldn't be in the squad. She urged me to come to a meeting and as it turned out, I loved it. She is very supportive and she has become such a faith role model to me in the past couple of years, I feel so blessed. "
- mary najjar
~It means my friends coming together and hanging out while learning about my faith."
- brian ross
~ " The Squad is very special to me and I have met so many new people because of it. I have also learned so much about my Catholic faith because of Squad."
- taylor roberts
~ "It's funto be around all of your friends that you don't normally get to see, because we all go to different schools."
- andrew spaulding
~ " The Squad is awesome! It's so great to be around other teens the truly want to learn about their Catholic faith."
- annie fleming
High School Families,
Many of you are familiar with our LifeTeen Youth Group -aka- The Squad, at St. Simon. For those who are not, this email will be very informative in the hope of encouraging your teen to join our group. There will also be information about where to view our registration forms and calendar of events.
The Squad was started 3 years ago by Youth Minister, Francesca Marino and a group of 15 high school students from Chatard, Scecina, Cathedral, Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, Hamilton Southeastern, Warren Central, and Mount Vernon. From our initial meeting it was clear that 5 major things were needed for the high school youth of our parish:
1. A youth group is needed at St Simon, just like at other parishes, for us high school students to talk about and share our faith with peers.
2. Come up with at catchy name so that when people ask where we are or who we are with, it will make them want find out more about who we are and what we are about.
3. What is discussed at our youth group meetings has to be exciting, enticing, and different from what we are being taught at school during Theology/Religion classes.
4. There needs to be a social element for us teens to go out and have fun with those who hold the same morals and values as we do.
5. If service projects are going to be performed, they have to take us out of our comfort zone and give us the opportunity to go extremely above and beyond in an effort to help others.
It did not take long for all of us to decide on a name for our group. The Squad was chosen because it is somewhat mysterious, but also because it represents a team like atmosphere. People coming together with the same beliefs, supporting each other and working towards a common goal: Getting closer to Christ.
From the other 4 components we decided to meet twice a month, once on a Sunday evening for discussion, life nights, faith sharing, prayer, retreats, etc. We also decided to meet one Saturday evening a month to attend 5:30 Mass together and then do a social event such as, going to a haunted house, bowling, laser tagging, an Indians game, out to eat, playing Wii games, going to plays, and so much more. The social events change every year and are 100% chosen by the teens in The Squad.
The other great thing about The Squad is that there is no up front fee to join. We only ask that you bring money to each social event to pay your way. Francesca does a good job of letting everyone know how much things cost so you know just how much money to bring.
This year we are so blessed to be adding so much more to our program. Things like, our new Youth Center, a Chicago trip, a leadership obstacle coarse, a Pacer game and even a book club. We also cannot wait to participate in some of our favorite service projects like Valentine’s Day Gift Bags, making sack lunches and walking the streets of downtown to pass them out to the homeless and so much more.
If you are a new or existing member of our group, we ask that you go to www.saintsimon.org and click on the Youth tab, scroll to the LifeTeen link and check out our page. There you will find, your registration form, that must be filled out and turned in, our calendar of events, a LifeTeen link so you can check out what LifeTeen is all about, our pictures, and comments from some of our youth participants about what The Squad means to them.
There is a parent meeting prior to our first social on September 17th at 4:30 in the Library at St. Simon.
We really hope to see you at our meetings!
Adult Leaders:
Ashley Greulich, Denise Gallion
*We are currently looking for a young adult male to be a part of our team!
Members:
Mary Najjar, Meredith Rhodes, Lauren Aylward, Ben Bielski, Jake Brothers, Taylor Roberts, Annie Fleming, Anna and Andrew Spaulding, Jacqueline Bennett, Elle Krauter, Geoff Poole, Trenton Hartley, Diego Ramos, Casey Ward, JJ Gllium, Brian Ross, Chayo Arroyo, Lee Miller, & Dom Santuro, Stephen Scheuth, Lauren Aylward.
If you have any questions please contact:
Mike Braun
Pastoral Associate for Family Life
826-6000 x152
